A Rome Retrospective

What did these three days in Rome have to say to us?

The organizers rightly spoke of a “miracle.”  For the participation in the pilgrimage exceeded all expectations. Indeed, especially for the laity, that has been a sustained trend for the last five years. If we turn back to 2021,  for example, we see a substantial but much more limited pilgrim community. Since then, the number of participants has kept growing. And the increased participation in this year’s pilgrimage as well as the prominence of the patron (Cardinal Burke) and the other spiritual  leaders brought about an amazing echo in the secular and even the mainstream Catholic media. This, when prior pilgrimages had been studiously ignored for years. 

We could attribute this success to several factors. First,  the ongoing persecution of traditionalists by the Roman Catholic Church, first under Pope Francis and now under Pope Leo, has motivated traditionalists to stand up and show their colors. Let’s keep in mind that the traditionalists who come to Rome do so at their own expense and their own initiative. It’s a contrast to the massive organizational effort of the institutional Church at the Vatican and diocesan levels that is required to bring the various groups of the official Church to Rome for the Jubilee and the other official events of this year. The same could be said for the Church’s investment in the Lisbon 2024 World Youth Day. 

Second, this increased self-awareness on the part of traditionalists, laity and clergy, was reflected not just in the numbers who attended but in the firmness of their convictions. For example, at Saint Peter’s, Cardinal Muller in 2024 and Cardinal Burke this year preached clearly and unambivalently in favor of Catholic Tradition and the Traditional Mass. The Traditional Mass was described not as the subjective possession of a few,  but as a treasure of the whole Church that should be available to all. It was a remarkable advance over, for example,  the more nebulous and non-controversial homily in St. Peter’s pronounced at the pilgrimage’s 2021 Mass. And what are we to say of Cardinal Simoni’s exorcism?

As always, it’s inspiring to see Catholics from so many countries assemble for this pilgrimage.  One enthusiastic reporter wrote of “pilgrims from 115 countries” under “115 flags.” Well…. Male and female religious from all kinds of orders and congregations were also well represented. During the three days of the pilgrimage we met many friends and acquaintances of ours from the States and from Europe as well – people involved in the Catholic scene at every level.

The procession to the Vatican on Saturday unfolded in a calm and orderly manner. The mood was serene and joyful as the pilgrimage began with the recitation on the rosary. The pilgrims took the usual delays in entering into St. Peter’s in stride. The seemingly never-ending queue of pilgrims had an overwhelming effect even in the vast spaces of St. Peter’s! As always, the ceremonies and music of the three days of the pilgrimage were executed beautifully and seemingly effortlessly.  The (ex-) Ecclesia Dei institutes – the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, the Priestly fraternity of St Peter and the Institute of the Good Shepherd – played a key role here.

The solemn mass in Saint Peter’s was of course only made possible by Pope Leo’s decision to reverse the policy of his predecessor. What this may portend for the Traditional Mass nobody knows. Pope Leo has maintained a studied silence regarding the entire Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. And up till now the general persecution of Traditionis Custodes continues unabated. Nevertheless, at a minimum, the impression left by this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage will make it more difficult for the Vatican to simply ignore Catholic Traditionalists and continue on its course of repression. 

Yet I think it would be a mistake for participants in this pilgrimage to start to focus on its depiction in the media, or to idly speculate on any influence it might exert on the Pope and the Vatican. That is to fall into the same trap as the progressives or the managers of the Catholic establishment. The purpose of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage has always been spiritual. As the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage site puts it:

Each year, from 2012 onward, the representatives of the People “Summorum Pontificum” bring together in Rome faithful, priests and religious from all over the world. Their aim is that of being part of the new evangelization at the rhythm of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite – i.e. the Latin and Gregorian Mass,…

During the three-day pilgrimage, its participants have the opportunity of witnessing the eternal youth of the traditional liturgy. 

I appreciate the achievement of the organizers of this year’s pilgrimage. I do, however,  have a critical comment. The large attendance this year exacerbated problems that were already present five years ago. The Pantheon was unavailable for the opening Vespers this year, apparently because a conflicting event was scheduled. The substituted basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina was grossly inadequate for the number of pilgrims. On Saturday, the eucharistic adoration that used to start the procession had already been given up in the last pilgrimage – the ICRSS church of S., Celso and Juliano is closed for repairs and in any case could not have even remotely handled the numbers this year. In St. Peter’s itself there was insufficient room, either sitting or standing, for all the pilgrims. On Sunday, relief had been provided by the celebration of a second Mass by the Institute of Christ the King in the capacious church of San Giovani dei Fiorentini – but even here it was standing room only. Accounts of the concluding Mass at Santissima Trinità that I heard confirm that the overcrowding I had already experienced last year had only increased. It is unfortunate that at that Mass, as well as at St. Peter’s and at San Lorenzo in Lucina, pilgrims had to be turned away or remain on the street. 

The size of this year’s gathering did take everyone by surprise. Nevertheless, if this pilgrimage continues at the level of this year or even grows further,  more attention needs to be paid to these logistical issues. It was mentioned in a conversation that not everyone gets a seat – or even can enter – at the Mass that concludes the pilgrimage to Chartres cathedral. True enough – but the organizers of that event plan around this fact by restricting admission to the cathedral to participating groups on a rotating basis and explaining the situation to the pilgrims in advance.

Of course, the underlying cause of the problem is not the work of the organizers, but the disdain shown to the traditionalist movement by the Vatican and the diocese of Rome. It is they that restrict the pilgrimage to limited number of churches. And undoubtedly there are political risks in moving  pilgrimage events to churches under unfamiliar management.  It said, however, that relations with Roman authorities currently are good – so perhaps something can be accomplished to alleviate the situation.